Diverse-Owned PE Firms Outperform Benchmarks by 700bps: NAIC Study Shows 

The National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC), the largest network of diverse- and women-owned alternative investment firms, has released its biennial performance study, Affirming the Returns 2025: Further Evidence of Diverse-Owned Private Equity Firm Outperformance. The findings confirm that diverse-owned private equity firms have once again delivered returns well above industry benchmarks, extending the outperformance gap identified in NAIC’s 2023 study. 

The NAIC Private Equity Index reported an internal rate of return (IRR) of 16.0%, a striking 700 basis points higher than the Burgiss median return of 9.0%. Performance was consistently superior across cycles, with NAIC managers beating the Burgiss median in 90.5% of the years analyzed.  

Other key metrics also reinforced the strength of diverse-owned firms: total value to paid-in capital (TVPI) stood at 1.62x versus the Burgiss median of 1.31x, with first- or second-quartile performance delivered in two-thirds of the years studied. Distributions to paid-in capital (DPI) reached 0.65x, far ahead of the Burgiss median of 0.44x, outperforming in more than 80% of measured periods. 

“These results speak directly to the skill of the managers represented in our index,” said Robert L. Greene, President & CEO of NAIC. “Their ability to source opportunities, create long-term value, and deliver superior returns stems from their experience, sector expertise, and commitment to alignment with their investors. This performance is not incidental—it is consistent and repeatable.” 

The study also highlights a key insight for institutional allocators: every firm identified as an outperformer began as an emerging manager roughly 15 years ago. 

NAIC partnered with KPMG LLP to manage the data collection and compilation, while GCM Grosvenor conducted performance benchmarking across multiple timeframes and metrics.